The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Aechmea plant, botanically known as Aechmea dichlamydea trinitensis.times.A. fendleri, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Blue Tango.
The new Aechmea is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Princeton, Fla. The objective of the breeding program was to develop blue-flowered Aechmeas.
The new Aechmea originated from a cross made in Princeton, Fla. by the Inventor of an unnamed selection of Aechmea dichlamydea trinitensis as the female, or seed, parent with an unnamed selection of Aechmea fendleri as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar Blue Tango was discovered and selected by the Inventor in April, 1994, as a seedling within the progeny of the stated cross in a controlled environment in Princeton, Fla.
Plants of the new Aechmea differ from plants of the female parent primarily in flower bract and sepal color. In addition, plants of the new Aechmea have much more compact inflorescence form than plants of the female parent.
Plants of the new Aechmea differ from plants of the male parent in plant size, leaf width and inflorescence branching. In addition, plants of the new Aechmea maintain inflorescence color much longer than plants of the male parent.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar by offsets and by tissue culture at Princeton, Fla. has shown that the unique features of this new Aechmea plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.